BENNINGTON, Vt. — With seven of the nine first-place votes, the Southern Vermont College men's basketball team was chosen in the 2015-16 preseason coaches poll to once again finish at the top of the New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) standings as announced by the league on Tuesday.
SVC took 78 points in the poll, being followed by defending champion Regis College which totaled 69 points with the other two first-place votes. Elms College and Mitchell College both accumulated 56 to round out the top four placements.
The Mountaineers, led by third-year head coach Dan Engelstad, are looking to get into the NECC playoffs for the third straight season and make it back to the league's championship round. "The bar has been set high by this group of returners and newcomers," he commented. "We know that this year, the Conference has improved and that the path to the championship will not be easy. I look forward to seeing how this team rises to the challenges."
SVC had a 25-4 overall record last year for the team's most-ever victories, going a perfect 16-0 in NECC play. The Mountaineers fell to Regis in the title game before being selected to the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) Division III New England Championship tournament for the first time in program history; top-seeded Southern Vermont then won the Championship to claim SVC's first-ever ECAC crown in any sport.
"Last year we fell short of our goal: making it to the NCAA tournament," continued Engelstad. "After the letdown of not making the NCAAs, our guys regrouped and made a great ECAC run to bring home a championship. That showed a lot about the character and determination of last year's team. This year, we hope to put ourselves in a good position to compete for an NECC championship and a trip to the NCAA tournament."
Engelstad returns 13 players for the 2015-16 campaign including senior captain Antoine White (Bethesda, Md.) who became Southern Vermont's all-time assists leader last year. White averaged 3.6 helpers per game while adding 7.2 points and 3.9 rebounds per contest. Also coming back for the Mountaineers is senior DeShawn Hamlet (Hartford, Conn.), the 2015 NECC Player of the Year; he tallied 19.4 points and 7.6 rebounds per game, marks that put him third and fourth in the Conference, respectively.
Senior Casey Hall (Albany, N.Y.) looks to continue his post presence for SVC after putting up 9.4 points and 2.7 blocks per game a season ago. Guard William Bromirski (Cambridge, N.Y.) will also return for his senior season, the 2015 ECAC DIII New England Championship's Most Valuable Player registering 10.3 points and 1.9 rebounds per game last year. Along with those coming back for Engelstad are four new Mountaineers who are set to help the team make another postseason run.
Southern Vermont begins the season this Friday, November 13 with its home opener, welcoming Mass. College of Liberal Arts to the Mountaineer Athletic Center for a 7 p.m. tip-off. SVC then heads to Maryland for the Hoopsville National Invitational Classic where the team takes on Salisbury University (Nov. 20) and the University of St. Thomas – Minnesota (Nov. 21), a pair of squads that went to the NCAA tournament last year. The Mountaineers will visit Castleton University on November 29 before starting the NECC schedule on December 3 with a rematch against Regis back at the MAC. They soon-after partake once again in the Tri-state Shootout Tournament, this year's being hosted by Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute December 12-13.
Additional non-conference contests slated for SVC are a December 21 meeting at Bates College, another team that danced in the 2015 NCAA DIII tournament, and a January 4 inner-state showdown at Middlebury College. Southern Vermont will hold its Senior Day on Saturday, February 20 during a league matchup with Daniel Webster College to end the regular season. SVC will also celebrate the American Cancer Society's Suits & Sneakers Weekend on January 30 during a league contest at home against Lesley University.
2015-2016 NECC Men's Basketball Preseason Coaches Poll
1. Southern Vermont – 78 (7)
2. Regis – 69 (2)
T-3. Elms – 56
T-3. Mitchell – 56
5. Daniel Webster – 49
6. Becker – 39
7. Wheelock – 20
T-8. Newbury – 19
T-8. Lesley – 19
(Parentheses denote first-place votes)